His Grace the Duke's Majestic Land Forces, Rightful and Sole Remnant of the Golden Imperial Army
His Grace the Duke's Majestic Land Forces The Imperial Grand Duchy of Far Valyrius commands vast legions of soldiers, armored walkers, cloned soldier drones, and alien and mercenary auxiliaries. Duchy Infantry Infantry Levies and Colonial Forces Desc: Conscripted troops with basic training and anti-infantry weapons. Often highly inexperienced, infantry levies generally tend to have poor morale and very basic equipment, faults made up for only by the sheer weight of their numbers. At their best, battle-hardened infantry levies can act as dependable light infantry, armed with field-modified standard issue weapons or superior scavenged weaponry. The Duchy freely used conscripts from its colonial holdings during the Derelict War, but the Duchy's ruling aristocracy is highly resistant to the institution of conscription within the Archenar System. Duchy Regulars Desc: Well drilled and disciplined, Duchy Regulars are the backbone of the Ducal Army. Armed with an assortment of anti-infantry and anti-vehicle weaponry, Regulars are numerous, easily replaced, professional and dependable soldiers that are useful in a variety of combat situations. His Grace's Imperial Grenadiers Desc: Grenadiers are a large standing force of veteran Duchy Regulars, outfitted with archeo-tech carapace armor and superior weaponry. They are used as medium infantry. Many Grenadier formations are composed of battle-hardened Duchy loyalists and former colonial forces from the Colchis League, the Contested Systems of the Derelict War, who chose to remain with the Duchy after the war ended and were absorbed into the Duchy regular army. Ducal Knights Desc: Power-armored infantry, Imperial Knights are high-born soldiers able to pay for and maintain their own armor. They are all purpose heavy troops with anti-infantry and anti-tank capabilities. Imperial Knights are more numerous than, but generally compare unfavorably to, other nations' power-armored formations thanks to their now largely outmoded armor models. Unlike many nations who deploy power armored divisions in a first-strike offensive role, Duchy commanders tend to use them largely in wave-assault, defensive, policing, counter-insurgent and support roles. They are often called in to crush rebellions and other poorly equipped forces, or to serve as a backbone to potentially unreliable mercenary troops. Old Guard Desc: An elite formation within the Duchy Army, the Old Guard are nominally the protectors of the Archduke. In reality, they are a 500,000 man force of well trained, well e quipped soldiers who- in addition to guarding the Archduke and the Valyrian Diet- often serve the Ducal Army as an elite fighting force in all combat scenarios. The Old Guard are equipped with highly sophisticated archeo-tech carapice armor with an inbuilt personal energy shield, capable of shrugging off a significant amount of damage before depletion. They are often armed with energy halberds, swords, and archeo-tech plasma weapons. Ducal Cavalry Forces Ducal Techno-Hussars Desc: Mounted on cyber-steed archeo-constructions which are slaved to their rider's neuro-uplink, the Techno-Hussars serve as a light reconaissance and skirmishing force. Their cyber-mounts are able to traverse even the most difficult terrain at speed. Ducal Techno-Cuirassiers Desc: The cavalryman is never out of date! Heavily armored soldiers armed with plasma rifles and powerlances who ride augemented cyborg-steeds that are slower but more heavily armored than the metallic constructions used by their Hussar brethren, the techno-cuirassiers are meant to flank enemy formations and charge, for the Duke! For Glory! In practice, Techno-cuirassiers serve as light, close range vehicular units whose primary use is flanking power-armored soldiers and skewering them with their power-lances. His Grace the Duke's Combat-Drone Formations Flathead Drone Desc: Flatheads, so named because of their sloping brows, are bulk produced clones of limited intelligence. Heavily armored and cybernetically augmented by the Grand Duchy, they serve as medium infantry. Flatheads never retreat, never surrender, and never stop coming. They are usually outfitted with arm-mounted rapid fire laser rifles. Flathead Tank Hunter Desc: Bulk clones outfitted with heavy anti-tank weaponry, Tank Hunters serve within almost all formations of Duchy infantry as vehicle-killers, often mind-slaved to a platoon officer. The Faceless Desc: A highly specialized varient of the Flathead soldier-clone, the Faceless are cybernetically augmented and biologically modified vat-grown human clones designed for close combat and stealth operations such as reconaissance, assassination, sabatoge, kidnapping, etc. While the Faceless possess highly limited sentience, they are implanted with advanced archeo-tech cognition engines which allow them a high level of adaptability, combat skill, and situation-assessment. They are especially known for their ability to clamber, insect like, over almost any surface. What the Faceless lack in creativity, imagination and improvisational skill, they more than make up for in obedience, relentlessness, numbers, and replacability. The Faceless are used extensively in combat zones, as assassins targeting the enemy command structure, or in swarms to overwhelm entrenched positions. His Grace the Duke's Armored Vehicular Units His Grace's armored divisions are a mixture of highly advanced archeo-tech walker designs and more recent designs which are vastly less sophisticated but easy to produce in vast numbers. Zaops-Class Battle Walker Variants aka "Scuttle Tanks" Desc: The workhors e of Duchy armored divisions, the Zaops-Class is a catch-all designation for innumerable variants of battlewalkers mass produced by equally innumberable arms manufacturies and guilds across the Grand Duchy. Zaops tanks can come in light, medium, and heavy varieties and can be outfitted with all manner of weaponry: energy and rail cannons, quad anti-air guns, mobile shield ar rays, etc. Zaops tank divisions are considered highly expendable by Duchy commanders and fight alongside every type of Duchy force, from mercenary auxiliary and colonial levies to regular Duchy deployments. What they lack in technological sophistication they make up for versitility and numbers. Crustacea-Class Armored Battle Walker, aka "Crab-Tanks" Desc. The solid backbone of the Duchy armored divisions, the Crustacea class is an archeo-tech model of tank, heavily armored and armed, capable of traversing even the most rugged terrain at speed. Along with its main armament, a heavy Rad-Cannon, the Crustacea Class is armed with several anti-infantry weapons and an energy shield capable of absorbing moderate anti-armor fire. Crustacea-Class Armored Battle Walker, Close Combat Variant "Crushers" Desc: A common variant of the Custacea class that trades in heavy armor and Rad-Cannon armament for a heavy personal energy shield, greatly increased speed, and powerful close combat limbs ideal for tearing apart power armored infantry, enemy vehicles, and fortifcations. Thymopides-Class Medium Artillery Walker Desc. Designed to provide Duchy forces with mobile, medium ranged artillery support, the Thymopides-class was utilized to great effect in the Derelict Wars as a close combat tank-destroyer, where it benefits from its heavily armored carapice. The Thymopides-class' main armament are its twin Heavy Rad-Cannons, and it sports a moderately powerful personal energy shield. It is a fusion of advanced archeo-tech and more recent, less sophisticated designs. Cancroid Class Infantry Suppression Walker Desc: An archeo-design from the Golden Empire, the Cancroid light walker-tank is armed with twin flamthrowers and a head-mounted rapid-fire heavy laser cannon. The cancroid-class is designed to operate in an anti-infantry, anti-light vehicle close combat role and possesses a moderate energy shield. Homarus-Class Shield Projection Walker "Shield Lobster" Desc: One of the most important vehicles in the Duchy army, the Homarus-Class is an archeo-tech all terrain walker mounted with an advanced archeo-tech energy shielding array, which enables it to project an umbrella of shielding over a large area of the battlefield. These shields are very resiliant to enemy fire, and are used by Duchy commanders to protect artillery emplacements, defensive positions, as well as advances in the enemy line of fire. The shield array can be overloaded by massive direct fire, however, and will take time to recharge. Likewise, the Homarus walker is slow moving, and thus any shield-protected advance at enemy positions will inevitably be a slow one. The Homarus-Class sports a medium Anti-Aircraft turret atop its shield projector array, as well as several secondary anti personnel weapons. Homarus-Class APC/AA Variant "Quad Lobster" Desc: A common varient of the Homarus-Class chassis, equipped with an immense troop holding compartment instead of a shield projection array, along with several heavy anti-air/anti-ballistic missile turrets. The Homarus APC sports a complement of secondary AA weapons, anti personel weapons, and a powerful personal energy shield. Homarus-Class Artillery Walker, "Missile Lobster" Desc: A variant of the Homarus-Class walker chasis that trades in its shield projection for a long range missle battery. Acanthacaris-Class Heavy Tank- aka "Lobster Tanks" Desc: Originally designed as a heavy artillery platform, and often still used as such, the Acanthacaris class is the primary heavy combat walker of the Grand Duchy, technologically simple and easy to mass-produce, the Acanthacaris class is one of the few innovative, non-archeo-tech based weapons systems used by the Duchy. As a consequence, the Lobster Tank is vastly less sophisticated than the heavy tanks of most other nations, and comes with notable shortcomings compared to other super-heavies, but is manufactured and used in large numbers. The lobster tank's main cannon fires solid high explosive, antiarmor or tactical nuclear munitions at targets, and makes up for its relatively low accuracy with range and sheer firepower. The lobster tanks lacks a personal shielding system, but carries a large complement of secondary weapons systems, including two fixed, forward mounted anti-armor cannons and several lighter anti armor and anti infantry weapons along its flanks. Phoberus-Class Super Heavy Artillery Walker "Siege Spider" Desc: The Phoberus-Class serves a seige and artillery unit in the Duchy army and is technologically simplistic compared with many of the ordinance delivery systems of other nations, but no less deadly for that. Variants can be outfitted to fire solid or energy munitions. Bellianus-Class Mobile Fortress, aka "King Crab" The penultimate Duchy walker-unit, the King Crab is a large, well armed and armored battle walker equipped with powerful archeo-tech energy shielding, a full suite of advanced weapons systems including long to mid ranged missile, kinetic and energy based artillery, AA and AT turrets, gravitic stabilizers, and powerful walking limbs capable of traversing almost veritcal terrain. The King Crab is able to operate in almost any environment, including the void of space. Despite it's unweildy appearance, the King Crab is a slow but efficient battle platform which excels at ranged assaults, breaking enemy strong points from afar, engaging multiple armored targets at distance, and assaults in broken or mountainous terrain. Duchy commanders often use King Crabs as mobile command centers. Due to the complexity of their construction, and the advanced technology used by the King Crabs, they are carefully husbanded units. Acanthacaris Mk II Desc: Recently developed by the Govyx Armaments Guild to replace the lobster tank as the Duchy's primary heavy walker unit, and to compensate for the notable deficiencies in that model, the Acanthacaris II has recently been put into mass production by His Grace's Army after spectacularly successful field deployments in the Ipeffit Suppression. A true frontline walker built with both archeo-tech and more recent, foreign innovations, the Acanthacaris II is much larger than its technologically rudimentary predecessor, and is outfitted with heavy personal shielding, armor, and energy weapon systems that allow it to operate as an anti-armor, infantry, and air platform, as well as serving as a super-heavy troop carrier. Where the Bellianus-Class serves best as a mid-ranged artillery platform and command center, the Mk II is excels as a front-line brawler and line breaker. Xenos and Mercenary Auxiliaries Gn'Mok Heavy Infantry Desc: Whatever the Gn'Mok people were originally, the bioengineers of the Golden Empire manipulated their bioform into one designed for combat. It is theorized that the Gn'Mok were meant to serve some GE faction or other as shock troops during the Collapse. In any event, the Gn'Mok excel as heavy infantry, and have served the Grand Duchy as an elite mercenary force for time out of mind, utilizing wrist mounted energy shields, Rad-Hammers and power lances in combat. Nerkin Slave-Soldiers Desc: Light infantry hailing from the Nerkin Empire, a failing former superpower propped up by the Imperial Grand Duchy. The Nerkin Army is led by incompetent cynics, who are happy to carelessly expend the lives of their slave-soldiers. Properly utilized, motivated and equipped, Nerkin infantry has the potential to be formidable, but slave-soldiers are more generally used by their commanders in wasteful, bloody wave attacks known as nerkin-swarms. Duchy High Command is in the process of evaluating how to more efficiently utilize the Nerkin forces at their disposal, but current political realities require that Nerkin soldiers remain under the immediat e direction of their own bloodthirsty commanders, who prohibit the slaves from being better armed out of fear of revolt, and so for the time being Nerkin slaves remain used primarily as cannon fodder and as forced labor. Introgg Light Infantry Introgg serve in the Duchy Army as specialized scouts, snipers and special operations soldiers. They are integrated into regular army formations as well as Gn'Mok divisions, and are particularly useful in urban warfare. Zeluri Mercenary Levies Desc: Hailing from the Drogue Collective the Zeluri are a grotesque and fleshy race of half-baked, genetically modified supersoldiers. They are believed to be experimental war weapons that has gone horribly wrong or the descendants of a strange race of parasitic aliens developed into a highly aggressive Warrior-species. The Zeluri make formidible soldiers, mercenaries, cutthroats and the like; they often work for barely more than food, drink and lodging. Between their warlike mentality, ability to work well in teams, sharp teeth and ability to reproduce uniquely, Zeluri end up being an inexpensive, effective solution to many problems. The Grand Duchy buys Zeluri warrior forms in bulk from the Drogue Collective, and is even rumored to 'farm' them. Drogue Mercenaries Desc: The Grand Duchy has close ties to many of the warring factions and syndicates that make up the Drogue Collective, and supplements its armed forces extensively with Drogue mercenary companies, warbands, pirate fleets, and killers. Forces hired by the Grand Duchy from the Drogue Collective range from hyper-elite special forces, tank or mech battalions, and guerilla specialists to bulk mercenary thugs good only for terrorizing a populace into submission and absorbing enemy bullets. Y'Ghul Sellsword and Armored Companies Desc: The planet Y'Ghul is a chaotic pirate haven with close ties to the Imperial Grand Duchy of Far Valyrius, which considers it an official protectorate. In exchange for agricultural support and military protection, the factions of Y'Ghul supply the Duchy with high quality infantry and tank levies. Category:The Duchy Category:Drogue